title: Non-exponential spontaneous emission dynamics for emitters in a time-dependent optical cavity.
abstract: We have theoretically studied the effect of deterministic temporal control of spontaneous emission in a dynamic optical microcavity. We propose a new paradigm in light emission: we envision an ensemble of two-level emitters in an environment where the local density of optical states is modified on a time scale shorter than the decay time. A rate equation model is developed for the excited state population of two-level emitters in a time-dependent environment in the weak coupling regime in quantum electrodynamics. As a realistic experimental system, we consider emitters in a semiconductor microcavity that is switched by free-carrier excitation. We demonstrate that a short temporal increase of the radiative decay rate depletes the excited state and drastically increases the emission intensity during the switch time. The resulting time-dependent spontaneous emission shows a distribution of photon arrival times that strongly deviates from the usual exponential decay: A deterministic burst of photons is spontaneously emitted during the switch event.
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Thyrrestrup
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hartsuiker
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gérard
authors.forename: Willem L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Vos